King County OKs sales tax increase for ‘transformative’ cultural funding

King County’s arts and culture sector is getting a major boost. On Tuesday, the Metropolitan King County Council unanimously approved a new levy that will provide hundreds of millions in funding to arts, heritage, science and historical preservation nonprofits over the next seven years. Funded through a 0.1% sales tax increase, the new program — called “Doors Open” — is expected to distribute more than $100 million to hundreds of local nonprofit organizations each year.

Nearly two decades in the making and hailed as a game changer, the program and its steady stream of funds will be transformative for the sector, which is still feeling the impacts of the pandemic. 

A wide swath of King County organizations — small and large, metropolitan and suburban, focusing on science, heritage or the arts — can receive funding, from groups like Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery to the Auburn Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle-based Northwest African American Museum. 

The sales tax increase, a penny for every $10 spent, will go into effect in April and is estimated to bring in roughly $72 million in 2024. That revenue is expected to increase to about $100 million in 2025, the first full year of collections, and will increase each year with inflation. The program will be in place for seven years, after which it will have to be re-approved either by council vote or a public vote.

The ordinance from King County Executive Dow Constantine was sponsored by outgoing Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles and co-sponsored by council members Claudia Balducci and Sarah Perry. 

“I have to say, in leaving the council in a few weeks to retire, there couldn’t have been a better measure for me to sponsor,” Kohl-Welles said before the vote. “This really does culminate a huge amount of effort.” 

The program will increase access to arts and culture for public school students and provide free access to programs, said Kohl-Welles. It would also open the doors of these organizations to more people, specifically vulnerable communities like youth, seniors, trauma victims and others, she said. 

She also noted the funding will lead to the creation of new organizations and aid others in keeping their doors open. In addition, “we’re also talking about the impact on the economy,” she added, noting that a vibrant cultural sector will help lure jobs and tourists and impact restaurants, hotels and other businesses. 

4Culture, a semipublic county organization that distributes funds to arts and culture projects, will oversee the program. The 4Culture board of directors and the King County Council, as well as peer review panels, will provide additional oversight. 

Arts and culture advocates have worked toward a “cultural access program” for years. Statewide legislation that made such a program possible was first passed in 2015. A 2017 ballot measure to create a similar program in King County failed by a slim margin. 

Constantine’s new proposal, submitted to the council in late September, came after the April passage of statewide legislation that allowed counties and cities to create a cultural access program through a council or commission vote rather than a ballot measure. The proposal also responded to equity concerns raised by critics of the 2017 measure, carving out more allocations for organizations that serve vulnerable populations (including veterans, and people experiencing homelessness or mental illness) or are located outside of established cultural centers. 

After the 9-0 vote Tuesday afternoon, supporters burst out in applause as they cheered and rose to their feet in a standing ovation. With the passage, King County joins the state’s two other “cultural access” programs in Tacoma and Olympia, as well as similar programs in St. Louis and Denver.

“I feel all the feelings,” said Manny Cawaling, executive director of Inspire Washington, a statewide cultural advocacy organization that has been the leading proponent of the measure. “This is transformative.” 

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This coverage is partially underwritten by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The Seattle Times maintains editorial control over this and all its coverage.